Chapter 493

"It's time to show the true power... of the Containment Objects."

Thanos raised his clenched right fist, the Mind Stone glowing ominously.

"Visual Beast… Solar Parasite… eliminate the humans of Earth."

The moment his command was given, the Solar Parasite—still lurking within the heart of the sun—turned its attention toward a distant wormhole, ten thousand meters away.

With a monstrous shift of its flaming body, it began moving toward the portal.

Due to the sun's intense gravitational pull, it couldn't fully pass through, but just reaching the edge of the wormhole was enough.

The creature opened its blazing maw, hurling fireballs like flaming meteors toward Earth—specifically, New York.

"Watch out! Evade now!" Thor, hovering in the sky, was the first to spot the incoming fireballs and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Lightning crackled wildly from him as he attempted to blast the projectiles.

But each fireball burned with a temperature exceeding 100,000 degrees.

His lightning bolts fizzled like sparks against them, utterly ineffective.

"What!?"

Thor's eyes widened in shock.

A fireball struck him square on.

BOOOOOOOM!!

The resulting explosion flung him nearly a kilometer away.

Even after the detonation, the scattered embers retained extreme temperatures in the thousands—any contact with the surface triggered overwhelming infernos.

BOOOOOMMMM!!!

Two fireballs slammed into the ground, unleashing titanic shockwaves and enormous mushroom clouds.

The concussive blast swept across the region like a hurricane, incinerating everything in its path.

The searing heat ignited even the most flame-resistant materials in seconds.

The land buckled as if it were ocean waves. Even the earth a thousand meters underground was churned upward.

Entire sections of the city were swallowed.

The destruction was apocalyptic—no one could say how many lives were lost in an instant.

Those watching were horrified beyond words. Getting hit by one of those fireballs meant not even having time to scream before death.

The Ancient One, seeing the devastation unfold, stopped fighting minor enemies.

She activated the Time Stone.

Green light surged out like a tidal wave, flooding all of New York.

A phantom clock face appeared in the sky.

With elegant, flowing gestures, the Ancient One turned her hands like the arms of the clock—counterclockwise.

Then something unbelievable happened.

The miles-wide destruction began to reverse.

It looked like a movie being rewound.

Scorched debris and embers pulled themselves back into the air and settled where they came from.

Flames vanished. Shattered buildings reformed.

Within seconds, the aftermath of the fireballs was undone—restoring the area to its original state.

Even the fireballs that had been descending were pulled back into the sky.

Thor, flung by the blast earlier, was dragged back to his previous position, the lightning returning to his body.

Once the fireballs were fully reabsorbed by the Solar Parasite's maw, the Ancient One finally ceased her time reversal spell.

"Strange, get to the sky. Stop that thing from attacking again."

With a flick of her hand, she signaled Doctor Strange.

"Huh?"

Before he could react, a portal appeared beneath him—and he immediately plummeted.

By the time he regained awareness, he was already just beneath the wormhole.

"I'm counting on you, my successor."

The Ancient One's voice echoed in his mind, even now still seeking to guide him.

She herself turned and flew directly toward Thanos.

"Unbelievable! No warning or explanation—what am I, a rookie sorcerer or something!?" Strange groaned mid-fall.

Just then, a red cloak shot through the air toward him—his signature Cloak of Levitation from the main universe!

It caught him just in time, allowing him to float.

But before Strange could fully steady himself, a wave of unbearable heat washed over him—he was drenched in sweat in seconds.

He looked up—

The Solar Parasite's flaming jaws were open again, preparing to launch another fireball.

Ideas raced through Strange's mind.

Then he landed on the safest option.

He immediately summoned a portal and struggled to expand it as much as possible.

The Solar Parasite fired.

The fireball passed through the portal—

Only to fall from above, hitting the parasite itself.

Strange had connected the portal to a point above the monster's head.

No matter how many fireballs it launched, they would only end up crashing right back onto it.

The Solar Parasite paused, staring at the portal.

Then—without hesitation—it fired again.

The resulting fireball hit it squarely in the back.

But it didn't flinch.

Instead, it allowed the fire to reabsorb into its body—completely unharmed.

"What the…? Why keep firing when it's clearly useless? Is it just dumb?" Strange murmured, puzzled.

He then noticed something else: the air around him was boiling.

Even his red cloak was trembling from the unbearable heat.

He almost lost his balance.

"Damn! Even if I block the fireballs, the heat will still reach me!"

It finally dawned on him—this was the Solar Parasite's real plan.

Overwhelm him with heat until he collapsed and could no longer maintain the portal!

"Crap! What now?!"

Panic set in. His mind raced for solutions.

Just then, a squad of Chitauri soldiers approached from behind aboard hovering craft.

They raised their blasters, aiming straight for Strange.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Before they could fire—

Tony Stark arrived just in time, unleashing mini-missiles that obliterated the invaders, saving Strange.

"Hey, wizard—looks like you owe me one," Tony quipped, floating up beside him.

He glanced at the portal and the wormhole beyond.

"Want me to lend you a suit? It comes with AC."

Even in this hellish situation, he still had jokes.

"That's not a bad—wait, no! I've got it! Can you have Rhodey bring Wong and Mordo here? I need their help!"

Strange's eyes lit up with a new idea.

"…Alright." Tony nodded, calling Rhodey to fetch the two.

"Wait—what do they even look like?" Rhodey muttered.

Clueless, he could only fly around shouting their names, hoping they'd respond.

BAM!

Suddenly, Rhodey was slammed into the ground.

He scrambled up, catching a glimpse of something darting past.

Before he could turn to look—

WHAM! Another blow sent him flying.

And it wasn't just him.

Other warriors around the battlefield suffered the same fate.

They caught the faintest shadow—

Then were struck down.

No one could see the attacker.

And worse—

Those without armor were being pierced straight through by something completely invisible…

(End of Chapter)

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